BIO

Goncalo Armando Mabunda was born in Mozambique, in 1975. Mabunda is an acclaimed sculptor who creates objects of beauty from instruments of death.
From his workshop in Maputo, he fashions his artworks -- masks, thrones and figures -- from decommissioned weapons and military equipment.

AK-47s, land mines, rocket launchers, soldiers' boots and helmets, even sections of tank: all are warped and melded to create vivid sculptures sought by galleries and collectors around the world.
The work, says Mabunda, is "trying to represent each [person] who died with this same material." At the same time, the creation of each piece has a very practical consequence. "If we destroy the weapons, the same weapon's not going to kill any more," he said.

Even after 20 years of peace, Mozambique, a country of about 24 million people in south east Africa, still labors under the legacy of conflict.
A ten-year insurrection against the Portuguese colonial powers prior to independence in 1975 was swiftly followed by a 16-year-long civil war, leaving the country dotted with hidden troves of weapons and unexploded ordnance.
Since 1995, a group of local churches, the Christian Council of Mozambique, has been working to recover weapons from the community, exchanging surrendered guns for tools or building materials through a program called "Transforming Guns into Hoes."

Inspired by the pacifist-spirited verse from the Book of Isaiah -- "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" -- the program has recovered more than 800,000 weapons to be destroyed, some of them through the hands of artists like Mabunda.
A full-time artist since 1997, Goncalo Mabunda 's earlier works were characterized by insecurity, as he was uncertain how long his country's fragile peace would last. Mabunda 's work has since moved in new directions, yet is always informed by the experiences that have shaped his homeland, and an interest in its collective memory.

source: "CNN"